Parenting Support
Parenting Support & Parent Coaching in Bozeman, MT
Parenting support for more clarity, connection, and steadiness. We help caregivers in Bozeman and across Montana understand what is underneath their child's behavior and respond with more confidence.
Parenting support and parent coaching at a glance
- What it is: Therapeutic guidance for caregivers, focused on understanding and responding to a child's needs.
- Also called: Parent coaching, parenting counseling, parenting therapy, co-parenting counseling.
- Best for: Parents navigating behavior concerns, big emotions, family stress, or disconnection.
- Approach: Attachment-based and developmentally informed, centered on emotion, regulation, and connection.
- Ages we support caregivers of: Toddlers through teens. For the first three years and the perinatal window, see our new-parent and perinatal support.
- Format: Usually the caregivers only, without the child in the room. Partners and co-parents are welcome.
- Where: In person in Bozeman; secure telehealth across Montana.
- Cost: $200 per 60-minute session.
What is parenting support?
Parenting support is therapeutic guidance for caregivers that helps you understand what is driving your child's behavior and respond to it with more steadiness. It focuses on you, on how you read your child, how you stay regulated in hard moments, and what you do next, rather than on treating your child directly. Parenting can feel overwhelming, especially when your child is struggling, family stress is high, or the same difficult moments keep repeating. You may find yourself second-guessing how to respond, feeling stretched thin, or wanting to support your child well without knowing what will actually help. At Bozeman Therapy & Counseling, we work with caregivers on emotional overwhelm, behavior concerns, family stress, co-parenting, and parent-child disconnection. Some families come to us alongside their child's own therapy, and many come on their own.
There's no perfect parent, but there is real support for the hard moments.
What can parenting support help with?
Parenting support can help if you are experiencing:
- Frequent conflict or tension with your child or teen
- Big emotions, meltdowns, or dysregulation at home
- Behavior that feels confusing, intense, or hard to manage
- Stress related to transitions, routines, or developmental changes
- Uncertainty about how to respond in ways that actually help
- Parent-child disconnection or relational strain
- Disagreement with a partner or co-parent about how to handle things
- Caregiver burnout, overwhelm, or self-doubt
Is parent coaching the same as parenting therapy?
In practice, yes. “Parent coaching,” “parenting counseling,” and “parenting therapy” usually describe the same work, and we use them interchangeably here. What differs between providers is who does it and what training sits behind it.
Our parent coaching is provided by licensed and pre-licensed clinicians trained in attachment-based and emotionally focused approaches. That means sessions are not only strategy and scripts. We look at what your child may be communicating through behavior, what happens in you when things escalate, and how the two interact, then build practical responses from there.
If you prefer the word coaching, you are in the right place. If you would rather call it therapy for parents, that works too.
Common parenting concerns we work with
Every family arrives with something specific. These are the concerns we hear most often from caregivers in Bozeman and the Gallatin Valley.
Big emotions, meltdowns, and dysregulation
When a child floods, the goal is not to argue them out of it. We work on reading the early signs, staying regulated yourself, and helping your child come back down, then repairing afterward. Related: child therapy in Bozeman.
Defiant, oppositional, or hard-to-manage behavior
Behavior that looks like defiance is often a child at the edge of their capacity. We look at what the behavior is protecting or communicating, where the escalation cycle starts, and what a consistent, non-punitive response looks like in your house.
Parenting a child with ADHD, autism, or sensory needs
Standard parenting advice frequently fails these kids, and parents often arrive feeling like they have done everything wrong. We adjust expectations to your child’s actual profile, including attention, sensory load, transitions, and executive function, and build routines that work with it instead of against it. Related: developmental assessments.
Anxiety, school refusal, and worry
Accommodating a child’s anxiety brings relief in the moment and tends to grow it over time. We help you find the line between support and accommodation, and hold it kindly.
Teens, boundaries, and conflict
Adolescence changes what your child needs from you, and old approaches stop landing. We work on staying connected while holding limits, and on repairing after the arguments that will happen anyway. Related: teen therapy.
Co-parenting and parenting after separation
Co-parenting counseling helps two caregivers align on how they respond to a child, whether or not they are still together. The focus is on keeping your child out of the middle, reducing conflict at handoffs and transitions, and building the parts of a shared approach you can actually agree on. We can work with co-parents together or with one parent alone.
Screens, sleep, and daily routines
The recurring flashpoints, including bedtime, screens, mornings, and homework, are usually about regulation and predictability rather than willpower. We build routines your family can hold on an ordinary week, not an ideal one.
Sibling conflict
Constant fighting between siblings wears a household down. We look at what each child is competing for, how conflict tends to start, and what your role in it should be. Related: family therapy.
New parents and the early years
If your child is under three, or you are navigating the transition to parenthood, postpartum stress, or bonding, our new-parent and perinatal support is the better fit. It is Circle of Security-informed and built for that window. See also early intervention for ages 0 to 5.
Caregiver burnout and parental overwhelm
Parental burnout is real, and it usually shows up as exhaustion, irritability, and a sense of detachment from a role you care deeply about. It is not a character problem. Parenting support gives you a place to put it down and look at it, and sometimes it points toward your own individual therapy alongside the parenting work.
What is our approach to parenting support?
Our approach is attachment-based and developmentally informed. Behavior usually makes more sense when it is viewed through the lens of emotion, regulation, development, and connection. Our work may include understanding what may be underneath a child's behavior, recognizing patterns that contribute to escalation or disconnection, strengthening your ability to respond with steadiness and clarity, learning how to support regulation and safety, and building more confidence in your parenting. The goal is not perfection; it is to help parents feel more supported, more effective, and more connected in the relationship with their child.
Several of our clinicians are trained in Emotionally Focused Therapy, and we draw on Emotionally Focused Family Therapy (EFFT) and attachment-based therapy when it fits your family.
What can you expect in parenting support?
Parenting support gives caregivers a place to bring the questions, frustrations, fears, and hopes they may be carrying. Together, we work to better understand what is happening, identify what is getting in the way, and develop a more grounded path forward. Parents often begin to better understand what their child may be communicating through behavior, recognize the patterns that make difficult moments worse, respond with more calm and consistency, build stronger emotional safety in the home, and feel more confident in how they support their child. This work can help parenting feel less reactive and more intentional over time.
Who you will work with
Two of our clinicians work directly with parents and caregivers.
Allison Floyd, PCLC
Allison works with children, teens, parents, and families. Her approach is warm, developmentally informed, and grounded in attachment-based care. She uses play therapy and age-appropriate techniques with kids, and works closely with parents to build a home environment where growth can happen. Focus areas include emotional regulation, child development, parent support, play therapy, and family connection. Read Allison’s full profile
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Micah Leach, SWLC
Micah works from a holistic, attachment-informed perspective centered on Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), with training in humanistic and trauma-informed approaches. She earned her Master of Social Work from Arizona State University. Read Micah’s full profile
Not sure who is the right fit? Meet the full team, or tell us what is going on and we will help you choose.
Cost and session length
Parenting support and parent coaching sessions are 60 minutes at $200 per session. There is no separate coaching rate; it is the same as our standard therapy session. Most caregivers start weekly or every other week and taper as things steady.
For insurance questions, in-network plans, and out-of-network Superbills, see our insurance and fees page. One note specific to parenting work: when the client of record is you rather than your child, coverage can work differently, and we will walk through what applies to your situation before you book.
Where we work: Bozeman, the Gallatin Valley, and online
Our office is at 321 E Main St, Suite 418, Bozeman, MT 59715, in downtown Bozeman. You can reach us at (406) 580-8082. Office hours are Monday through Friday, 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM.
In-person sessions all happen at our Bozeman office, and caregivers regularly drive in from Belgrade, Four Corners, Manhattan, Three Forks, Livingston, and Big Sky. If the drive does not fit your week, or you are farther out in Montana, we offer secure telehealth anywhere in the state, with the same clinicians.
Is parenting support right for me?
Parenting support may be a good fit if you are navigating behavior challenges, big emotions, family stress, co-parenting friction, or disconnection with your child or teen, or if you are simply feeling worn down and want a place to reflect and regroup. When a child is struggling, parents often carry a great deal behind the scenes, and this work creates space to support you in the role you are holding. You do not need to wait until things feel unmanageable; the earlier you have a place to reflect, the easier it becomes to shift patterns in a healthier direction.
Do you offer online parenting support in Montana?
Yes. We offer parenting support and parent coaching in person in Bozeman and online for caregivers located anywhere in Montana, with the same quality of guidance as in-person sessions. Many parents find telehealth easier to sustain, because it fits around school pickup and bedtime instead of competing with them.
When to bring the whole family in
Parent coaching works on what you do as a caregiver. When the difficulty lives in the relationships themselves — recurring conflict, sibling tension, a blended household still finding its footing, or co-parenting across two homes — family therapy in Bozeman brings the family together to shift the pattern.
What to expect when you start
A warm first session
We start by getting to know you and what brings you in — no pressure to have it all figured out.
A plan that fits you
Together we shape an approach around your goals, your pace, and what actually helps.
Steady, real support
Ongoing sessions give you practical tools and steady support for the patterns that keep coming up.
Looking for more specific support?
Parenting support works alongside our care for children and teens. One of these pages may be a better fit.